Quiet Professionals, Noisy Machinery

Silencerco SWR Radius Rangefinder

Silencerco says the objective of its Silencerco Weapons Research subsidiary is “to bring advanced technology to the public at an attainable price.” We had not heard of that, or of SWR for that matter, until they came up claiming mission accomplished: “with the announcement of a capability-heavy range finder for only $999, we’ve done just that.”

Have they? Here’s a silent (apart from music and maybe gunshots) video of the SWR Radius in action.

This video describes some of the capabilities:

Sure, it’s not TrackingPoint, but TrackingPoint is not available for pre-order at $995, either.

The Tracking Point system includes several other modules, such as an air data computer that accounts for atmospherics (density, ambient pressure, altitude, temperature), a ballistics computer that knows the bullet performance at a given range, an aiming point module that adjusts the digital reticle on to target, a target reference module that “understands” where a marked (“tagged”) target is in three dimensions, and trigger control that, in a digital update to the way a Contstantinesco gear interrupted fire of a World War I fighter plane unless the propeller was clear of the trajectory, only allows the trigger to fire when the aimpoint is on target.

A unit like this, if it were able to output data through an RS232/RS422 port or something like that, could be a component of such a system, and if the rangefinder alone succeeds, the likelihood that SWR builds in this direction is increased.

Of course, the one nut that even TrackingPoint has yet to crack is wind.

None of these developments are really, in the truest sense of the word, inventions. They’ve all been around for a century, manually calculated and optically ranged, in naval gunnery, and for most of a half century (including laser ranging) in tank gunnery. The new development is this technology reaching levels of portability and affordability where it can be installed on (or in) an individual weapon.

There are couple less in-your-face developments embedded in the Radius. One of these is the display of not just one, but the top three range returns. This is a big deal if you’re engaging a target screened by vegetation, a chain link fence, or any of the other embuggerments that give a laser rangefinder a false return.

Another is the selectable use of visible and IR laser. The two lasers coalign, so that the laser can be boresighted or sighted-in with the visible laser, and then switch to the IR for actual field use, and use it with confidence.

This suggests that, while full firing system integration à la TrackingPoint is one way this can go, there are other ways. For example, a unit integrating this laser capability (in milspec strength) with current IR/visible laser floodlight and point illumination would be catnip to the military services.

10 thoughts on “Silencerco SWR Radius Rangefinder”

I know my drop tables; all I want is a scope with a built-in rangefinder that says “235 yards.” Or I’ll redo the tables in meters if necessary. Or arshins, or furlongs…

I don’t want datalogging, or something that moves the crosshairs to what they think the trajectory might be, or sends video to a phone via Bluetooth, or any of the other features that seem to be mandatory.

Maybe my google-fu sucks, or I get lost in the barrage of adspeak, but if I’ve seen such a thing, I didn’t recognize it under all the marketing.

Fix the space in the link and I don’t think Hognose will have to approve it.

Nikon used to make something called the “Nikon IRT” that I think did a similar thing.

Now taking a 90 deg. turn…

Imagine one of the Trackingpoint systems setup in one of our nex-gen fighter aircraft to control the gun in a dogfight! Less wasted ammo for sure!

They are getting there with this technology, unfortunately, by the time it is really good, I’ll be too old or dead to utilize it! Well, I’m sure my grandparents felt the same about the Internet and all the techno-goodies they were aware of before they died.

There is no perfect system yet, and unfortunately when there is, it will be abused by criminals like everything else and it will be regulated to death. Imagine the NFA tax for that item!

[Editor’s Note: I went in here and made Chris’s link live. Don’t usually edit posts except on request, but this seemed innocent enough. – Ed.]

SilencerCo is pretty good with this, especially if you shoot “both eyes open”. Ideally, I would love to find some sort of a clear or ARD-integrated projector (if you will) that I could snap/slide over/fit into (whatever) an existing scope that would just show me the range while I’m using my favorite scope on my favorite rifle. They could have the actual rangefinder/controls mounted wherever on the weapon, but have different sized “lenses” to fit different scopes.

I think this would sell like hotcakes!

This would simply add the range to an existing scope and you could handle your own adjustments without the bells and whistles. I think it would be cheaper to manufacture as you’re taking existing data (from the range/control unit) and sending it up to the display unit.

I would love to have something like this on my acog on the 300BLK with a suppressor. Those big, slow bullets have quite a bit of drop!

I’d buy one as-is. Having the ability to project that info into the eyepiece would be nice too however. The visible laser wouldn’t have much purpose other than being slaved to its IR brother for easier zeroing.

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WeaponsMan is a blog about weapons. Primarily ground combat weapons, primarily small arms and man-portable crew-served weapons. The site owner is a former Special Forces weapons man (MOS 18B, before the 18 series, 11B with Skill Qualification Indicator of S), and you can expect any guest columnists to be similarly qualified.

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